New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Any worries EA Sports may have had about the performance of FC 25 must have dissipated almost immediately after the first sales number rolled in, as it didn't just set a record for the launch of a soccer game - it did so with double-digit growth from the series' debut last year, reports tracking firm Circana from its
September 2024 video game sales report.
EA Sports College Football 25 also continued to set records, becoming the No. 2 best-selling sports video game in Circana's tracking history for U.S. full-game dollar sales, behind only NBA 2K21.
"It was a pretty good jump this year for EA Sports FC! PS5, [Xbox Series S] and
Switch all saw increases year-on-year." Circana Executive Director/Video Games Mat Piscatella said. "I'm not sure if this is incredibly surprising; perhaps it's a mild surprise. Soccer has been a growth area for many years now, and EA has more than successfully shifted from the FIFA branding to EA Sports FC. OpenCritic has the consensus slightly higher for EA Sports FC 25 compared to last year's version. But overall, it's very strong start for EA Sports FC 25 with absolutely no hangover from the shift away from the FIFA branding."
EA Sports FC 24 also showed growth beyond its predecessor, FIFA 23, when it debuted in 2023.
September is a big month for the launch of sports games. NBA 2K25 debuted No. 7, and that was just for physical sales (2K doesn't report digital sales). EA Sports' NHL 25 debuted at ninth.
"Looking at NBA 2K units, which are both physical and digital across both releases in our tracking, while Take-Two
Interactive digital revenue reporting is subject to a 13-week delay, they're down slightly compared to last year's launch with similar weeks in market," Piscatella said. "NHL also looks to be down year-on-year, although the launch timings are misaligned, so we'll need a bit more time in the market to get a better read. NHL 25 has received a less favorable critical reception than NHL 24 enjoyed, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see a drop-off in volume.
Madden NFL 25 and College Football 25 continue to display the strength of EA's sports games.
Madden went from No. 1 in August to No. 3 in September. EA Sports College Football 25 dropped from second to fifth. Sales are still strong for both, especially College Football 25.
"EA Sports College Football 25 has now generated the highest full game dollar sales of any football game in U.S. history, and this does not include any volume from the EA Sports MVP Bundle," Piscatella said. "The record had been held by
Madden NFL 07. This is a big one ...
Madden NFL 07 still holds the unit record. … It's safe to say that EA Sports College Football 25 is doing alright."
Now with both games on the market together for two months, the EA Sports MVP Bundle (Madden and College Football) came in at 20, falling from No. 4 in August. It'll be interesting to watch how this first-ever football bundle works for EA going forward.
"It depends on what EA decides to do with promotional pricing. It could stick around through December if its price promoted, or perhaps not," Piscatella said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what happens here as well, as this one doesn't have a lot of comparable benchmarks to look at. I'm assuming it will stick around on the charts through at minimum January, but we'll see!"
When it comes to monthly active users (MAUs), Call of Duty HQ (that's Warzone,
Modern Warfare II and
Modern Warfare III) leads all games on PlayStation, swapping places with Fortnite from last month. Roblox (fourth) and EA Sports College Football 24 (fifth) held serve in September, as did MLB: The Show 24 at sixth. NBA 2K25 debuted at seventh, with NBA 2K24 still on the chart at ninth and
Madden NFL 25 at 10th.
On Xbox Series X/S, the top three didn't change -- Call of Duty HQ, Fortnite and Roblox. EA Sports College Football 25 dropped a slot to seventh, but
Madden climbed from 11th to ninth. Forza Horizon 5 was the only racing game on either console's top 10 in MAUs at 10th, leaping from 15th.
